John Keel
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 4

| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Keel |
| On the Timeline | 3 events, 1967–2022 |
John Keel (1930–2009) was an American writer and journalist. He wrote for radio and magazines before turning to UFOs and the paranormal in the 1960s.
Ideas
In books such as UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse (1970), Keel argued that UFOs were not spacecraft from other planets but manifestations of an intelligence native to Earth, which he called "ultraterrestrials", able to change form and play tricks on witnesses. He linked UFOs with ghosts, monsters and religious visions.
The Mothman Prophecies
His best-known book, The Mothman Prophecies (1975), describes strange events around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1966–67, including sightings of a winged creature, culminating in the Silver Bridge collapse. It became a 2002 film. Keel also popularised the Men in Black legend.
On the UAP Timeline
- Wheless memo on UFO impostors (1967) (1 March 1967) — An Air Force memo warns of men in uniform telling UAP witnesses to stay silent.
- Project Windfall claim (1978) — John Keel says the CIA ran Project Windfall, an investigation of UAP contactees.
- Ultraterrestrial hypothesis paper (31 July 2022) — Puthoff releases a paper on the 'ultraterrestrial' hypothesis.
References
- John Keel — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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